step 2 qualitative research recruitment...social media. current industry conversation around social...
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LERESEARCH.COM
STEP 2
QUALITATIVE RESEARCH RECRUITMENT
6 STEPS TO PERFECT QUAL The L&E trust guide to ensure the success of your project
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT BEST
PRACTICES 03
STEPS FOR RECRUITMENT 04
LEADING TECHNIQUES TAKING ADVANTAGE
OF NEW (AND OLD) RESOURCES 07
TECHNOLOGY IS UPDATING RECRUITMENT
SOFTWARE 09
HOW L&E CAN SUPPORT THE RECRUITMENT
PROCESS 11
CONCLUSION 12
STEP TWO: QUALITATIVE RESEARCH RECRUITMENTIn a world focused on ‘how much,’ it’s qualitative research that
digs deep to uncover the truth in consumer behavior. If the
goal of qual is to explore rather than confirm, then the best
qualitative research is in the art of asking the right questions,
with the right people, and sharing the journey they take you on,
in order to result in true insight.
Our series of six white papers and webinars is designed to
support you every step along the way in your project – to
provide a guide to the key elements that will drive success and
how we at L&E can help you.
This second paper will guide you through qualitative research
recruitment best practices to provide you with the best sample
to achieve the best insight.
2.
Recruitment is the foundation of good research.
Research consultants recognize that high quality recruiting is a critical
part of any successful research project. It’s a rather simple equation
really; quality recruits provide quality data. In order to guarantee true
insight, researchers first need to guarantee a true representative sample.
But for this guarantee, there are some guidelines, and several firm rules,
that must be carefully considered. The recruitment process therefore has
the potential to place pressure on small qualitative research consultants;
so to help you get the best insight, this paper provides the ultimate best
practice guide for quality recruitment.
INTRODUCTION TO RECRUITMENT BEST PRACTICES
In order to guarantee true insight, researchers
first need to guarantee a true representative sample.
3.
Determine objectives, timeline and deliverables
The recruiting process must begin with a kick-off meeting
between the researcher and the recruiter to determine and understand
the project’s objectives, timeline and deliverables, which all underline
the recruiting strategy. Verbal communication eliminates any
miscommunication that can result from written communication
such as email.
Set achievable sample specifications and clearly
communicate them
The sample specifications should always match the project aims
and objectives. To achieve the best recruits, there must be strong
communication and understanding between the client, the researcher
and the recruiter. This is particularly true when agreeing upon clear,
achievable sample specifications. Just one misinterpreted quota can lead
to vigorous backtracking and several added hours, or even days, of work.
STEPS FOR RECRUITMENTTo start you off, here are some critical steps and valuable tips in
getting the right respondents.
01
02
To achieve the
best recruits, there
must be strong
communication
and understanding
between the client,
the researcher and
the recruiter.
4.
Pay close attention to screener qualification questions
Getting the screener questions right, while keeping them short and simple, will bring in
the right people without losing qualified respondents due to long-winded screeners. The questions
should focus on the qualifications that are most important to meeting the project objectives. It’s
also important to inform the respondents about the project at the recruitment stage in terms of
what will be expected of them and how the research will be recorded and used.
Screeners are mini questionnaires, and should be treated with the same skills and techniques.
Some of the key problems in designing screeners is that they are too long, unclear, or biased.
Poorly planned screeners also tend to leave out crucial questions, which allow unqualified
participants to slip through and manipulate the data. To prevent respondents from affecting the
quality of the data, screeners should be cut down to 5 to 15 easy questions, with only those that
are necessary to determine eligibility, and prioritized with the questions that will disqualify the
most people immediately.
03
GUIDELINES FOR WRITING QUESTIONS1. State the unit of measurement 2. Use the vocabulary of respondents 3. Use precise words and phrases 4. When using the word “you,” make sure respondents know to whom you are referring5. Make sure the question is really asking only one question 6. When asking for percentages, make sure the base is clear7. Make sure the question stem and the answer choices match each other8. Use forced-choice questions and trap questions 9. Use bold, underlining, italics, and/or capitalization to highlight key words and phrases10. Properly pre-test questions
5.
Start sourcing the right respondents
So where do you find this perfect sample then? Sample can
be sourced from panels, organic databases, purchased lists, business
directories, and even social media. Working closely with a recruiter
will guarantee the best approach. One very important factor when
it comes to sample sourcing is location. Selecting a strategic market
location is essential to finding sample which is truly representative of
the target market. The respondents will be directly representative of
the demographics and psychographics of their region. Therefore at L&E
we’ve made it a priority to strategically place our facilities in markets
that contain a vast range of demographics. This makes for a truly
representative sample of Americans in tier two markets - markets which
are not over-researched like many major market locations.
Continuously review recruiting results to address issues
early on
The recruiter will send a report of participating respondents once the
project starts. This report should be carefully reviewed on an ongoing
basis to identify any missing key requirements or in order to flag
necessary changes. Questions or uncertainties should be raised early on
so the recruiter can make adjustments and fine-tune the respondent list
long before the recruiting process is complete. This can relieve a lot of
time and financial effort.
Understand and consider participation and incidence rates
To reach sample quota, it’s necessary to first consider how the
target population typically participates in market research. Participation
rates can be influenced by the survey length, topic interest, incentive
value, and convenience in the timing, location and method.
It’s also important to plan ahead for incidence rates. Niche or unusual
populations are more difficult to recruit. There are a lot of rare target
markets out there. For example, there are only 270 Hemophilia doctors
in the US. That’s a tiny amount to build a workable sample from. You will
need to adjust your incidence rates and timelines to reflect this tricky
target market.
Match incentives to your sample
In nearly every study an incentive is expected and required
to secure a workable sample. Incentives should be carefully considered
based on the specific sample’s interests and preferences. Some groups
prefer cash, others gift cards, others airline points, and others a chance to
win a beach destination vacation. Alternatively, offering a summary of the
research results may work as a suitable incentive for some, particularly
for business respondents who may be limited to incentives due to their
company’s corporate policies.
04 06
0705
6.
Recruitment is turning digital, and new
recruiting methods are approaching the
classic trinity of cost, quality and speed.
It’s no longer a ‘choose two only’ situation;
now it is possible to pick all three.
From social media to mobile phones,
new methods are emerging from these
technologies as they extend their original
purpose and move into the recruiting
process, adding a new set of options for
qualitative recruitment.
Technology is giving us quality recruits in real
time, much faster and cheaper than before.
Ultimately, this allows us to deliver faster
insight to clients, while reducing overall time
and costs.
But to snag the best recruits, you need to look
at combining old and new methods. It’s true
that digital methods offer many advantages
to the recruitment process, but not everyone
resides in a purely digital world. If scope is
what you want, and you do, then it’s in the
practice of using technology to support and
enhance existing recruitment techniques.
Old-fashioned database list. These are often
long lists of clients and potential respondents.
It’s always important to be wary of the
quality of lists, particularly when they are old
databases. Length can also be a concern,
because although the list may seem long,
screening requirements and participation rates
will often knock the list down significantly.
In reality, it’s not unusual to need a 10:1
participant ration. A list can easily be
LEADING TECHNIQUES TAKING ADVANTAGE OF NEW (AND OLD) RESOURCES
exhausted so other methods are often required
for successful recruiting.
Social media. Current industry conversation
around social media usually refers to big
data and online communities, but qualitative
recruitment can also benefit from social
media platforms. Social media platforms
can locate participants in a highly targeted
manner, using simple demographics such as
age and location, or by using any number
of psychographics from video gamers to
jazz enthusiasts. The communities behind
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and online forums
are viewed as credible recruitment sources
containing actual representation of members
with personal and genuine insight. Targeting
via social media directly is often more efficient
in prescreening, which saves time and money
7.
searching for qualified participants. Some niche groups are very difficult to find using traditional
methods, but by using social media it’s easier to access those hard-to-reach respondents hiding
in online support forums and communities featuring specific interests. Of course, social media
should only be used to find and prescreen participants; it’s still necessary to follow up with a
phone call to ensure quality – a perfect example of combining old and new methods.
Ads and flyers. Placing ads in university newsletters, local newspapers, radio, television stations,
and now anywhere online is a suitable method for bringing in respondents. Flyers can also be
distributed or displayed as one-pagers, pamphlets, brochures or posters.
In addition to many of the above recruiting techniques, L&E has recruiters based in seven markets
across the US, so when we need people to actually go out in person and recruit, we can do that.
No matter how tough your recruit, we won’t stop until we have a national representation of the
exact sample criteria you need, so the recruitment team will get creative with guerilla tactics,
grassroots methods, and whatever it takes to provide a solution.
Targeting via social media directly is often more efficient in prescreening, which saves time and money searching for qualified participants.
8.
To secure the best recruits, from current customers to competitors’
customers, you need to leverage technology and know-how.
If you utilize leading software platforms, such as Facility Manager Plus
(FMP), which is L&E’s proprietary software for recruiting and project
management, you can easily recruit and manage quality sample to
optimize the insight.
Using the latest technology in recruitment software will provide a host
of benefits. With FMP, you can:
» Track over a hundred data points for each respondent to help source
only qualified respondents, such as education, income, children, job ,
owned technology, etc.
» Provide respondents with 24/7 access to their profiles for continual
updates.
» Access previous screeners, pre-screeners and web comments (free
form text responses to studies that are posted on the web) to easily
search for keywords when creating a list of potential respondents.
» Easily track respondent participation in previous studies to eliminate
TECHNOLOGY IS UPGRADING RECRUITMENT SOFTWARE
9.
respondents based on participation requirements and to prioritize
recruiting respondents who have never participated in a study, to
ensure around 35% first-timer respondents.
» Use tools to recruit using online surveys, phone calls, or a
combination of the two. Most researchers begin the recruitment
process with online pre-screener questions before they are further
screened for qualification by phone.
» Save all information and data in one secure place throughout the
project’s lifecycle, not just during the recruiting process.
» Access live recruiting so researchers can easily review the
recruitment status for items such as recruits on hold.
This recruitment software is completely transparent so researchers can
deliver the recruitment information to clients early on and throughout
the process. It also increases the communication between the recruiter
and project managers, and ultimately to the researchers. The platform
contains all project data along with infographics for improved data
visualized value. All recruiters working on a project can monitor progress
and communicate notes and details in real time, which reduces the
chance of duplicating efforts or miscommunication in project changes.
[Facility Manager Plus] is completely transparent so
researchers can deliver the recruitment information to
clients early on and throughout the process
10.
HOW L&E SUPPORTS THE RECRUITMENT PROCESSTo ensure qualified recruits, you need
a qualified recruiter who has access to
the latest technology and recruitment
techniques. Recruiters have the skills
and expertise, as well as the creativity
and resources, to recruit even the rarest
respondents for quality insights.
L&E Research offers small, independent
qualitative research consultants over 30 years
of experience and a large recruiting staff size
of over 100, making the process much easier
and the research more effective. L&E’s high Net
Promoter Score guarantees working with the
best recruiters in the industry.
Plus, unique to L&E is our Member
Development Lead Officer, whose primary
responsibility is to create and implement
innovative and effective programs to grow the
L&E Research member database.
More than 500,000 consumers, medical
professionals and teachers have signed up
with L&E Research. Experience and knowledge
of the corporate world, the clinical arena and
a broad range of other areas, give researchers
access to a variety of recruiting categories
such as:
» B2B
» Consumers
» Corporate Executives
» Patients
» Sensitive Issues Recruiting
» Teachers
» Teens/Kids
» Medical Professionals:
• Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Nurses (NP, RN, LPN, DNE, CDE)
• Physical Therapists
• Practice Staff
• Pharmacists
• Dentists
11.
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6 STEPS TO PERFECT QUALCONCLUSIONResearchers need recruitment partners, not order-
takers, who will take full responsibility for the success
of recruitment. Recruiters are there to not only provide
comprehensive feedback on recruitment status, but also
to consult on the best methods to achieve the project
objectives. Carefully follow this L&E trust guide, latch
onto the leading technologies (both new and old), and
grasp the latest technology in recruitment software
to maximize your recruitment strategy. Wrap it all up
with a qualified recruiter to ensure quality sample and
quality results, and you’re good to go.